Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Bella in the Wych Elm

Bella in the Wych Elm.
Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? On 18 April, 1943, four boys were
exploring in Hagley Woods near Wychbury Hill when they came across a
large Wych Elm. In the hollow trunk they found a skull. When police
checked the trunk of the tree they found an almost complete human
skeleton, a shoe, a gold wedding ring, and some fragments of clothing.
After further investigation, a severed hand was found buried in the
ground near the tree.Taffeta was found in her mouth, suggesting that
she had died from asphyxiation. From the measurement of the trunk it
was deduced that she must have been placed there "still warm" after the
killing, as she could not have fit once rigor mortis had taken hold.
Since the woman's murder was during the midst of World War II,
identification was seriously hampered. Police could tell from items
found with the body what the woman had looked like, but with so many
people reported missing during the war, records were too vast for a
proper identification to take place. The current location of her
skeleton is unknown, as is the autopsy report.This painting was inspired by this unsolved crime.

Original
painting, acrylic on acid-free paper, 8" x 10" by Julie Kwiatkowski
Schuler. The painting does not contain the "My Good Babushka" watermark
which was included here for security purposes.